(NewsNation) — American actor and director Sean Penn hopes the “chaos” seen in Friday’s Oval Office exchange between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won’t create further division between the nations.
“Remember where we really stand, and what this is really about,” Penn implored on Friday’s “CUOMO.”
He points to the people dying on the front lines in Ukraine each day, “dying honoring the very thing we honor most, which is freedom,” and urges citizens to see through the politicians’ “personality chaos.”
Graham: Trump, Zelenskyy meeting an ‘absolute, utter disaster’
On Friday, the pair of presidents met to discuss a mineral deal and the future of American aid to Ukraine. But the leaders’ conversation, with some interjections from Vice President JD Vance, quickly turned sour.
Trump told Zelenskyy, “You’re not really in a good position right now” and said the leader was “gambling with WWIII.”
On X, Zelenskyy said what his country needs is peace.
“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that,” he said.
How is the market responding to Trump’s policies?
“Superpower” co-director Penn spent extended time with Zelenskyy for the film and saw the outbreak of fighting in 2022 firsthand.
Penn praised the Ukrainian president’s leaders, whom he described as “so constantly, extemporaneously genuine” in his fight for the nation.
“I think the last significant moment that that we were bridging a division was in support of Ukraine and its and its head of state,” Penn said. “And if we lose track of that, we really have to ask ourselves if we’re losing track of the value of democracy.”
The presidents met just a week after Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections.”
